


Death's Queen

by Firstfight



Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Canon Rewrite, F/M, Female Protagonist, Fix-It, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2020-06-09 19:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19482568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firstfight/pseuds/Firstfight
Summary: Minako Aristato, Yuko Narukami, Akira Kurusu, they are one and the same. One soul dragged from the edge of existence every few years to stop a coming evil. Unfortunately for Akira the velvet room she enters in Tokyo isn't hers, and the Denizens don't recognize her. As if that wasn't enough The Phantom thieve's plan to fool the traitor goes wrong. Waking up to a different interrogation room throws carefully made plans into the trash. Akira must face the ace detective in a game of wits.Fighting for the future is hard when you can't talk about the past.





	1. Meeting an Old Friend

The blaring sound of slots and blindingly bright and vivid lights seemed to pulse in time with Joker’s footsteps. Joker found herself sprinting across the massive chandeliers she was admiring only hours ago. Beneath her a crowd full of shadows mixed in with a handful of police, and in her ears she could hear the encouragement of the other phantom thieves. From the sound of it the traitor had taken the bait. Good, that would make the next part possible. Now all Joker had to do was wait till Futaba gave her the signal. Joker spotted a vent leading into the next room, she took a breath and jumped towards the ledge it was on, quickly removing the grate and sliding into the ventilation shaft. Futaba’s voice startled her out of the relative quite of the air conditioning system.

“Joker, we’ve got the treasure, the rest is up to you. Be careful.”

Joker crawled her way to the next room and busted out. She clung to the shadows as she quickly looked around for an escape route. A smirk crossed her face as she found one. Time for a show. Joker rushed across the two chandeliers between her and the exit of this godforsaken casino.

A breath, and then a jump, then shattering glass.

The assembled police trained their weapons, and their lights on her. Joker’s smirk only widened as she saw them. She wasn’t surprised, but they had come for a phantom thief, and Joker was nothing if not a showoff. She ran along the ledge she landed on and took off. The lights of the police still following her. Better to keep up the show as long as possible. She jumped as she reached the end of the ledge her hands outstretched and grasping for a ladder. One last look down, and grey eyes met red. Joker looked up to late, her face met the stock of a gun and her grip faltered. Joker fell, and as she fell, she realized she had a long night ahead of her.

_“Time never waits… it delivers all equally to the same end. You, who wish to safeguard the future, however limited it may be. You will be given one year… go forth without falter, with your heart as your guide.”_

Joker or Akira rather, woke up inside an interrogation room. She sat facing a see through mirror, across the table was a single chair. She had been unhandcuffed at some point. As she tried to piece together what happened after the fall, the door opened. In walked a man with cold gray eyes, Akira smiled for the first time in what felt like years.

“You know most people wouldn’t be smiling in your situation. You’re facing quiet the list of charges. Help us out, and we’ll help you out.” 

As he spoke the man sat in the chair across from her leaning in. Almost as if he was an old friend teasing her after a bad joke.

Akira's smile twisted into a smirk as the man in front of her spoke.

“You have nothing, if you did you wouldn’t be offering deals.”

The man rose to the challenge, “Not yet, no, but its only a matter of time till that traitor tells the cops everything, or he starts to kill your friends.”

‘ _I’m going to tell them everything anyways what’s the harm in playing with them first?_ ’ 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about…”

The man stood up and placed his hand on his ear he turned around and started to pace.  
Akira finally got a chance to examine him. The police outfit he was wearing seemed genuine, and perhaps to the laymen the gun at his hip would too. His haircut was different, but to Akira at least it didn’t seem like he had changed at all. Akira was still staring at him as he turned around. The tag wasn’t right. Hmm, so the uniform was fake, or stolen, good to know.

“Perhaps we should start at the beginning. My name is Akihiko Sanada. “

“Akira Kurusu.”

As soon as she’d finished speaking the door opened. In walked a girl covered from the next down in a black trench coat, in her hand she held a folder.

“Akihiko-san we found it! Here you go!”

The girl quickly passed Akihiko the folder and left. Akira figured she went to observed on the other side of the mirror. As Akihiko opened the folder, Akira realized the time for games was over.

“So, the beginning then. You’re name is Akira Kurusu, seems like this isn’t your first arrest. Assault and public indecency? What on earth?”

As he finished his sentence Akira spoke, clearly pleading with him.

“I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything…just don’t read anymore of that file. Please.” Maybe the sincerity of her voice got his attention or the look on her face. Either way he closed the folder, crossed his arms over it, and waited.

Akira’s voice was wavering as she tried to stay calm. Facing beyond Akihiko, she spoke directly to the mirror on the wall.

“Listen whoever’s back there, forget everything in that folder, delete it from your memory, get some brain bleach. I don’t care! Okay? Forget about it please.”

The girl took a minute to gather herself before the tears that wanted to break through didn’t. A breath, then words.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“My name isn’t Akira Kurusu, or it wasn’t originally. I’ve been going by that for about eight months or so. Around the time I took up this identify I was on my way from school and I saw this woman, she was being forced in to this limo, yelling for help you know? I couldn’t help myself I had to do something, I reached for the guy and he fell. The girl ran away. Then I remember waking up in the hospital, surrounded by nurses. Within an hour the police arrived and handcuffed me to the bed. I was found on the sidewalk not far from where all that happened, completely naked. That guy reported me, the prosecutor, she was trying to charge me for something else, but the nurses and doctors at the hospital told her all the evidence was against her. So the judge, he put me on probation, the next thing I know I’ve been expelled and forced to move here to Tokyo.”

The girl took a breath, somewhere in her recounting she had stopped breathing, and just stated to recite by memory. The story seemed to take an obvious toll on her, something her captors noticed. As proven by the girl from earlier in the trench coat returning with water, and leaving just as quickly, and a voice from the speaker saying

“Akihiko, perhaps you should step out. Akira please continue when you’re ready.”

Akira breathed in and closed her eyes. It was going to be a terribly long night.


	2. An uneasy feeling

On the other side of the one-sided mirror four women looked on. Mitsuru leaned away from the microphone.

“Seems we were wrong, I doubt she’s the criminal mastermind that detective is trying to make her out to be.”

“Perhaps shes simply a girl who wondered into the other world and decided to do some good, not unlike how we were in Inaba, or what your doing now.” Mitsuru looked away from Akir for the first time since she woke up, instead turning to Naoto.

“I don’t doubt it, but still we’ll need her side of the story to hep her, and her friends out of this mess.” For the first time since bringing the girl in Mitsuru looked pensive. A look that was extremely off putting from someone so self-assured. Shifting her weight she fidgeted and began.

“Shirogane, perhaps-“

“May I take over the interrogation?” The weight that settled over the room seemed to lift as Labrys giggle echoed through. Naoto and Mitsuru ignored the girl’s outburst and continued.

“Yes of course, thank you for your help Shirogane.” “Of course, let me grab somethings and I’ll start soon after.” As Naoto went to leave the room Akira spoke again.

“Hey, um… I know I’m not in control here, but can I get something to eat, I’m starving.” The two humans in the room shared a look. “I have no problem with it, Shirogane?” “It’s fine, she’s not exactly a prisoner, plus it’ll give me some time to gather my notes.” Naoto left the room. Mitsuru turned addressing the still giggling robot and her ever stoic sister.

“Can you two go get her something to eat? If there is something in the kitchen that’s fine if not go grab whatever’s closest.”

“Mitsuru-san? Why did you not ask Naoto-san to interrogate her from the beginning?”

“Aigis, Shirogane works directly with the police, getting her over involved could compromise her livelihood. I’d rather not risk it if it can be avoided.”

“Well, yeah but she offered ta help, no need to be so uptight Mitsuru-san.”

“Yes, well I’m still unaccustomed to relying on others, nevertheless please grab out guest something to eat. Sorry to put you two on food duty, but there’s no one else to send right now.”

After a brief but spirited discussion on what food to get the two girls left, and Mitsuru was left alone. Her attention turned to the girl on the other side of the glass. She really was unassuming, shoulder length black hair, dark grey eyes, a high school uniform. The glasses she wore in her ID photo were missing. Other than that she looked every bit the normal high school girl. Ever since Akihiko left the girl had been quite, perhaps she was waiting? Then again Mitsuru did tell her to continue once she was ready. Mitsuru took a second look, Akira seemed to be fine, maybe a bit shaken. Perhaps she was just getting her story straight. Without thinking Mitsuru leaned forward. Pressing the intercom button she spoke into the microphone.

“Kurusu, we’ve sent someone for food, let’s wait until they get back before we continue.”

Mitsuru grabbed the nearest chair and sat down. Akihiko walked in soon after. He’d changed from the fake police uniform into what appeared to be exercise clothes.

“Why do I get the feeling its going to be a long night?” Akihiko grabbed the chair next to Mitsuru as he spoke.

“Experience, I feel it too. Something about this is making me feel uneasy.” At that Akihiko just grunted and leaned forward in his chair. The silence wasn't broken until Agiais, and Labrys return. At the smell of food both Akihiko and Mitsurus’s stomachs rumbled. Prompting giggling from their friends.

“We got some extra, Sis said neither of you two ate.”

Soon after the impromptu food break Naoto returned with a large file, prompting the light mood that had taken over to dissipate. Labrys went with her to clean up the empty container’s leftover from Akira’s meal. Akira seemed to be in a much better mood, the desperation in her demeanor seemed to have vanished and been replaced with an almost unnerving calm. Naoto seemed to suprise her, perhaps she thought the rest of the interrogation was to be done over intercom, Mitsuru dismissed her reaction and instead redirected her attention to Naoto's questions.

“My name is Naoto Shirogane, I’ll be interviewing you in regards to the phantom thieves of heart, start at the beginning. Kamoshida why target him?”

**************************************************************************************************************************************************

The interrogation room seemed to fade as Akira remembered how she met her accomplices. Getting lost in Tokyo was not how she was supposed to spend her day. The steps were simple get to Tokyo, find Sakura-san, find out where she would spend the next year, eat sleep, and maybe call Marie if it wasn’t too late. In practice Tokyo was more confusing then she was expecting. Maybe she should ask for help? Standing outside Shibuya station trying to get her phone’s GPS to load, Akira realized the people around her were frozen. Looking up, everyone was frozen, her eyes were drawn to the center of the crowded street. The bright blue flames seemed to call to her. From those she felt something staring at her. And then the moment passed and she was left staring at nothing.

After a fight with her phone she just barley won, Akira finally arrived at LeBlanc. The meeting with Sakura-san could have gone better, he at least didn’t seem to pity her. Steps one through three done. Turns out she would be living above LeBlanc for the next year. The attic was at least spacious, although that’s all it had going for it in comparison to the other places she’d lived. Cleaning took the better part of the day, after Sakura-san told her he was locking up for the night and to call if she needed anything Akira started to explore. Not finding anything too interesting other than curry with her name on it in the fridge Akira tried to sleep.

Like she thought soon after she’d laid down her mind became cloudy and then she was awake somewhere else. The sight that greeted her was off putting to say the least. Where ever she was she wasn’t in her velvet room. The gentle pull of the massive elevator was missing. Instead as she tried to stand, she was pulled back down by the weight of an iron ball. Looking towards the center of the room she saw Igor, but the two attendants she’d never seen in any of her lives. At her attempt to stand the two girls dressed as prison guards spoke. “Wake up Inmate!” “Our master wishes to speak with you.” Akira stayed silent, surprised that the attendants would welcome her. Between Theo, Elizabeth, Margret, and Marie on only one occasion was she not welcomed by Igor. That had only happened because he wasn’t in the velvet room. Not for the first time since waking from the great seal did Akira feel something was wrong. “It seems you’re locked in a prison of your own design, when next we meet your rehabilitation will be under way.” With that Akira woke up feeling more tired then when she fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing is hard pls send help? ALSO my least fav character from golden is going to show up, because plot.


	3. A Phone Call With a God

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh I didn't want to abandon this fic for so long pls forgive me. you know how school gets in the way of everything. But I'm back no april fools jokes.

Akira woke up more confused than anything. The Velvet room was always the same. Igor always greeted her and welcomed her back to the land of the living. He'd tell her how long had past since she'd last been called for help. The room itself had never changed. The elevator she'd first seen back in Tatsumi port city would still climb ever up, even when the fog enveloped it it still climbed. Something was wrong, until she found out what was going on it was probably better to act like nothing was wrong. 

Resolving to finish her check list from yesterday Akira called the only person she knew would believe her.

Ring-ring-ring. "Hello, am I speaking to Marie?"

"Oh yeah, that's me whose calling? Naoto?"

"Nope, even better! I think the last time we saw each other was... what three years ago? I'm going by Akira Kurusu now."

"Oh, it's you. It's been a hell of a long time. How long have you been back?"

"Less than two months, a lots been going on. I don't know if I can tell you everything. When can you come visit?"

"Depends, I need someone from Inaba to come with me if you're too far away, but if you're close whenever."

"Ah. I'm in Tokyo. When you come can you bring that box I gave you?"

"Of course. I'll let you know when I can grab someone who won't be too suspicious."

"Okay, thanks see you soon."

"Hey... It's good to hear from you." 

Click.

Chuckling to herself Akira closed her phone and finished getting ready for the day. Just like that the one person she could talk to about her past was currently trying to come visit. Maybe, just maybe she could get through another year. 

The visit with Sakura-san to Shujin was uneventful. Her teacher Kakawkami seemed nice enough. Akira had experience with connections. Perhaps it was her experience with personas, but she could sense when someone was going to play a role in the problem she was supposed to solve. Kakawkami, and Sakura-san both fit the bill. Akira noted them as potential allies.

The ride back to LeBlanc found Akira being lectured by Sakura-san about behaving in school, while the car idled in bumper to bumper traffic. Checking her phone Akira saw a text from Marie.

"Found someone, be there next Sunday." 

"Who?"

... "It's a surprise."

A surprise, and someone who wouldn't be suspicious of Akira, that really just ruled out Naoto. Maybe it would be Nanako? or Teddie? Shaking herself from her thoughts she saw that they were almost back at LeBlanc. Setting aside her thoughts she tried to think about what she needed to do. Clean her room, Unpack her stuff, Figure out what was going on, eat, sleep, go to school. Six steps to this plan. Easy she could handle that. 

Thinking about it, Akira Kurusu was a weird mix of herself and the persona she created to live in Inaba. While living there she had be so distant. Everything she did was caluculated. Maybe she should have been more herself and less of a doll just trying to say the right things. She missed her home. She missed her little sister. Thinking back on Inaba made her heart hurt. Sighing. Akira decided that steps 1,2,3 would have to wait until tomorrow. She laid down and tried not to think of her last year. 

Waking up Akira hurried to get ready. Being late on her first day would be sure to draw attention to her, that was one thing she wanted to avoid. Sakura-san stopped her on her way out.

"Here kid, eat." He said as he motioned to a surprisingly large plate of curry.

It was weird, curry for breakfast. Although thinking about it, it wasn't as weird as eating the rainy day beef bowl, or the mysterious takyoki, it definitely was nothing compared to Rise, Yukkio, or Chie's cooking. In a way finding something weird was a comfort. After finishing her plate Akira dashed out in an effort to not be late for her first day. 


	4. A Short Conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So thanks to a suggestion I'll be adding some formatting, to help with the transitions between memories and actual present time.  
> *********** is back to present  
> __________ is to memories

Akira came back to herself, Naoto looked at her expectantly.

“Kamoshida was dirt.”

Naoto’s expression didn’t change “That’s not why you decided to steal his heart. What can you tell me about Shiho Suzui?”

“I don’t know her, I was there the day she jumped, but other than that nothing.”  
“So you decided to become a phantom thief because you were being threatened with expulsion?” Naoto leaned back in her chair; her expression hadn’t changed. “Where did you learn about the other world?”

Akiria leaned forward occupying space that Naoto just moved out of.   
“What do you know about the other world?”

“That’s a question for you more than me.”

Silence stretched across the room, as it reached the point of awkwardness Naoto began “We know that in order to access it you need some sort of portal, and that once your there you’re able to summon a persona, shadows attack any living being they come across. Shadows being negative emotions given life. Only people with personas can fight shadows. Each person can only have one persona if they have one at all.”

Akira nodded along with Naoto’s statement, noticing the discrepancy at the end but choosing not to comment on it for now.

“In that case here in Tokyo it works a little different. We call the other world the Meta-verse. Our portal to that world is a phone app, which I would love to show you, but It seems your jolly group stole my phone.”

“Confiscated.”

“Anyways, Its not like we just got our persona and went along. Each of us, well except Morgan, had to awaken to the power.”

“Did you have to fight your own shadows?”

“No, only bad guys have shadows.”

“A very simplistic view. What’s your point?”

“It seems to me this other world works differently then whatever other world you know about.” There a hint, nothing too obvious but that should help them piecing this puzzle together.

“Kamoshida. Why target him? How did you know stealing his heart would make him confess?”

“A talking cat told us it would work. As for targeting him everything just worked out. He was terrible, and the right people had had enough.”

“A cat?”

“Well yeah, he said if we help him, he’d teach us about the meta-verse. It’s not like we were the only ones who benefited.”

“So this had nothing to do with him threatening you or your classmates?”

“No, at least not to me.” _I would have been glad to skip my third second year of highschool._ “To my fellow thieves very much so.”

“Then why help?”

“I have…my own…hmm shall we say goals? In order to achieve them I need help, and power. A lot of both, and this seemed to be the right direction.”

Akira’s goal, how had that changed? Was she still the same girl she had been that night in her Velvet room. Akira blinked, and Naoto was gone. Akira closed her eyes, and the interrogation room faded from her senses.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When she woke she wasn’t fighting Nyx’s avatar, she was safe in the Velvet room. Igor as always, sat across from her. He spoke in that weird wheezy voice of his, “You’ve done well to avoid the coming disaster. Although not without cost.”

That’s right she’d die to seal Nyx away. To keep her friends and family safe. That was fine she’d be fine. It’s not like she’d see Ryoji again.

“Another disaster will come, and those you hold dear will once again be threatened along with the very world.”

“NO.” Shaken by Igor’s words Minako stood from her seat. Its echo seemed loud enough to break glass. “We fought Nyx and won! I’m going to die for this, and you just casually predict another world ending catastrophe they’ll have to face by themselves!”

Igor ever the stoic only directed his gaze up to where Minako was now standing. “Do you not have faith in their strength? In the bonds you’ve forged over this past year?” At that Minako’s fight seemed to have been drained from her. Her shoulder’s sagged. “I do of course I do, but I’ll be stuck watching unable to help them…”

“Good, if you did not have absolute faith, this would not work.” Minako knew when Igor spoke it meant a great deal anything outside of persona fusions meant that he was offering her help. That meant he had a plan. “The power of your bonds is your power, while great it is not infinite, right now it could buy you a year at most.”

“What do you mean? I thought this was it, my life for the great seal. My soul it’s keystone kinda thing? Are you saying I can leave?”

“No not by yourself, but I am concerned. It’s not everyday we get guest. In fact, the number of people with the potential is dwindling. I suggest you be a safeguard of sorts. Of course, bonds mean nothing between the living and the dead for this plan to work your body, the one you’re in now will still be alive. Your friends must have hope you’ll wake someday.”

“So, I’m not going to die?”

“No, you won’t. Next time a threat like Nyx surfaces I will call you from the great seal. Your bonds will take your place and you may join the living once more. You’ll have a year to build bonds and to stop the incoming disaster. Although you won’t be yourself, and you won’t be able to call on the power of the bond’s you’ve made to fight. I’m sure your experience will serve you well.”

“I'll become like you or Theo and Elizabeth?”

“My, my, normally you’re a lot quicker than this. I can arrange a human form for when you’re needed.”

“Why can’t I just use this body? My body?”

“The strain of fighting Nyx and giving up your soul was too much. It will take years for it to recover if it ever does.”

“It can’t be that easy what’s the catch? There has to be one.”

“This magic is unorthodox, and bonds are both incredibly strong, and so incredibly fragile. If anyone from your past life found out the truth the bond between yourself and them could weaken or break. Putting the seal at risk. Therefore, you cannot tell anyone the truth. You’ll have to make new bonds to fight. Although there is some good news, theoretically with enough strong bonds you could replace the great seal altogether. In that case you could live your life out in full and pass into the next world without worry.”

“Okay.”

“Very well, sign on the dotted line.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okays so to explain, I know what I want to happen, and I have a good idea of what our main character has dealt with for her past few years, but getting there is hard.


	5. A Fool's Gambit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who will win our lovely protag or the detective prince? FIND OUT later much later, or not we'll see. ALSO i just want to say Naoto is my literal favorite and I'm so sad pancakes tries to benefit from her reputation.

Naoto's voice rang out startling Akira back to the interrogation room. 

"These goals, what are they?"

Trepidation entering her voice for the first time since Naoto's interrogation began "I can't say."

"You've been rather cooperative for someone who is in danger of being sent to jail. You told us the story of your probation, you even told us your friend's motives, why not your own?"

' _I can't put the Great Seal at risk. Too many bonds would break, and what I want is nothing compared to the world.'_

A bit more forcefully, "I can't."

"Why tell us you're using an alias?" 

_'Because I want you to know. I want you to recognize me, I know it's been years. Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Aigis, I want them to know I'm here, I'm okay. I've missed you all so much.'_

"I'm sure it's pretty obvious no one by the name Akira Kursuara existed before a year ago, It would take no time for you to figure that one out." 

Naoto shifted forward opening the file she'd brought in with her browsing it's content's before looking up and making eye contact with Akira. 

"What is your real name?" 

_'You wouldn't believe me.'_

"I can't tell you." Dropping Naoto's gaze and looking down at her hands, quietly again "I can't..."

' _I can't tell them anything, they wouldn't believe me but... If they find out themselves like Marie did...'_

Speaking with barley a half formed plan Akira's eyes once again meet Naoto's. Schooling her expression into that of a self assured Joker, "Detective, how do you feel about a wager?"

After a brief period of examination, Naoto made up her mind, "Depends on the terms. What do you propose?" 

"Simple, we continue this interrogation. You'll have my full cooperation. By the end you, Detective, should have had every opportunity to figure out who I am. Although if you doubt your own skills the people behind the mirror can weigh in. If you can find my true name then I'll gladly assist you and your organization no questions asked. If you can't, you and the organization you're working with has to help me and my team. Fair enough?"

Akira settled, with a smirk. Confident. 

"That's a rather weighted deal." Her eye's closed, Naoto brought her hand to her face as she attempted to sort her thoughts. 

"Very well. We accept your deal." Mitsuru's voice range out once again over the PA system. 

Seemingly satisfied with Mitsurus's decision, Naoto nodded, "This is all rather cliche isn't it? Phantom thief versus ace detective? There's only two cases I haven't solved in my tenure as a detective. I hope you haven't underestimated me."

"Haha, No worries Shirogane. I could never."


	6. What She Wants

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I should mention what is and isn't cannon to this AU. It's everything except the dancing games and Q1, Q2. So The Answer, P3P female protag route, P4G, both arena games, and P5. I should mention that while the answer is cannon, Aigis never gained the wild card, and didn't enter the Velvet room, not really important just something that I care about. I haven't decided about royal but that shouldn't matter for quite a bit. I'll probably include somethings but not all. Anyways I hope you guys are enjoying this cluster fuck of a fic.

On the other side of the glass, Mitsuru lifted her hand from the intercom button and waited. 

"What the fuck Mitsuru? We have no way of knowing who she is or what she's planing? Even with the Shadow operatives and Yamagishi you can't guarantee we'll figure this out by the end of the interrogation."

Aigis shifted her weight before directing her attention to Akihiko "Akihiko-san, isn't the way Akira-san is acting odd?"

"Well yeah, but she's been acting like that since we got her in the interview room. Heck, she asked us for dinner."

"Immediately after begging us to not read her file. I have no reason to believe she would use the Shadow operatives for...Hmm so that's how this is."

"I hate it when you do that. What did you figure out this time."

"She already knows about the Shadow operatives."

"How? Isn't all of our data off the grid?"

"Yes. Perhaps that was a hint as well..."

"Mitsuru-san? Are you tryin to say that she wants us to know who she is?" Labrys chimed in.

"Yes. I have a theory, but it should wait until we hear more. In case I'm wrong, Aigis, Labrys, call in the reserve members."

"Very well Mitsuru-san. Which ones?"

"Yamagish and Shinjiro. Have the others on stand-by in case we need something"

The sisters quickly left the room. Mitsuru who hadn't taken her eyes off of the interrogation turned to Akihiko. "I'm sure Shirogane has already figured out that slip. We should begin compiling a list of anyone and everyone who know about our existence." 

"That will take forever. Plus there's no telling how many will slip through the cracks." 

"We'll just have to hope Kurusu lets something else slip."


	7. Awakening

"I'm assuming you awoke to your persona in Kamoshida's palace, is that correct?" Naoto waited for a nod before continuing. "Can you tell me about your awakening? What's your persona's name?" 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yukari had waken her up with a panic. The gun she had the day Minako arrived to the dorms was strapped to her thigh. In her hand she held a shortbow. After being dragged from her bed Minako followed Yukari up the dorm stairs, toward the roof.

Loud noises, and what Minako thought was a gun being shot could be heard.

Still climbing, a voice seemingly from nowhere rang in her ears. "Takeba, Akihiko has lost sight of the sha-"

Whatever the voice had to say was cut off. The interference growing too great as the two girls finally reached the rooftop.

The gun had stopped.

It was replaced by a terrible scratching sound. It grew louder and louder. Until finally a black, goopy claw reached over the edge of the roof. Yukari seemed more terrified, reaching down and unbuckling the gun. She slowly brought it up to her forehead. She almost began to chant to reassure herself. 

Minako's eyes were drawn towards the edge of the building, the yellow light of the moon, and the green sky blotted out by the encroaching thing. Whatever it was, it continued to slowly crawl towards the students. Minako shuddered, a rabbit caught by a fox her brain supplied. That thing was dangerous. Yukari's fear told her that. 

Seeming to have given up Yukari lowered the gun. Minako snatched it from her. 

"No wait!"

Lifting it to her head she pulled the trigger.

"Orpheus" She herd her own voice call. In front of her was that boy from before. He disappeared and in his place was a shining man with a lyre. 

Then all she felt was pain. Orpheus was gone, something large and alien ripped him apart. The goopy thing-a shadow was torn apart just as quickly. The alien persona faded away.

Minako fell to her knees, Yukari's hand trying to brace her back. Then she passed out. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yosuke had somehow convinced Yuko to enter the T.V. again. Trying to find a killer seemed like too far fetched of a reason, but frankly Yuko couldn't come up with anything better to do. So here she was walking down Inaba's one market road. Teddie, whatever he was had come along, leading them towards the Konoishi liquor store. 

"Here! I'm beary sure that girl was here!"

"Do you want to look inside?" Yuko still wasn't used to the sound of her own voice. It made her feel uneasy. Yosuke for his part only nodded. 

Yuko entered first. Startled by the bell above the door, she quickened her pace. Inside it was surprisingly large. A brief look failed to highlight anything major. 

"Anything?" 

"Nah. The actual store pretty much looks like this." 

"Maybe we should go." She didn't want to admit it but this side of the T.V. gave her the creeps. A lot of things were doing that lately. Shaking her head she tried to dismiss how much this felt like the night of a full moon. 

In her daze she didn't hear the voices. Yosuke's yell pulled her back to present time. Standing across the room was an exact replica of the boy she pulled out of the trash this morning. Somehow, she knew it wasn't her place to interfere. So Yuko stood there and watched. 

Yosuke denied ever bad thing about himself, and yet Yuko still watched. Yuko didn't move until the thing that used to look exactly like Yosuke tried to attack real Yosuke. 

Thanking whatever higher being that existed that the shadow was weak enough for her to deflect it's first attack with a plastic naginata. Yuko called her persona. She had no envoker so she just had to hope thing worked differently here. 

Opening her eyes she saw a single silver tarot card. A smirk crossed her features. Crushing the card in her off hand. 

"IZANAGI!"

And suddenly she found her voice.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Akira was pissed. Out of all days to get soaked by rain, and be running late to school it had to be her first day at Shujin. Not only that but she had managed to end up in the other world. She only wanted two days! But no. Akira was now stuck in some weird ass dungeon with, probably, the only person angrier than her. 

"Dammit, I can't these doors won't open."

"Did you think they would?" Changing voices was still weird, luckily she wasn't jumping every time she spoke now. 

"I don't know! You're way too laid back about all this." Ryuji probably had a point. She probably should be trying to get out, but there really was nothing she could do. Jumping down from the barrel she'd been sitting on Akira crossed the five feet of cell and poked as much of her face out of the cell as possible. 

"Shit! Guards are coming!" Akira quickly let go of the bars and backed away from the front of the cell. 

The guard's arrived at the font of the cell lead by... a man in a thong. Akira really did have to stop herself from laughing as he unlocked the door and entered along with his knights. The look on Ryuji's face was enough to tell her, whoever this was, he was deserving of contempt. 

While Ryuji argued with him, Kamoshida her mind supplies, Akira tried to find a way out. Rather difficult with four guards and a nasty shadow in the room. 

Being grabbed by two of the guards, and hearing the word "execution" Akira actually started to pay attention to Ryuji and thong man. 

"Yes, King Kamoshida!" One of the Shadows. Akira's struggle against the two holding her grew more frantic. 'Fuck, I don't even have a weapon this time' 

And so Akira called for her persona once again.

Nothing.

No voice, no surge of power.

Until she felt fire.

Screaming she reached for her face. Finding no resistance she began to claw at the source of her pain. Finally getting a finger hold she pulled. Vaguely she registered blood, her blood dripping down her face. After what felt like ages she stood, mask in hand and called out.

"Arsene!" 

Using Arsene was like setting her blood on fire. After quickly dispatching the shadows, grabbing Ryuji and locking Kamoshida in the cell she dismissed him. 

"Which way?"

"I donno, hey you hear somethin?"

The two student's stand still listening. "Hey Let Me Out!"

A migraine suddenly hit Akira. Grasping her head she tried to breath through the pain. Once she had regained her composer she looked up and saw Ryuji heading towards the voice. 

"Come on it might be someone else trapped."

*********************************************************************************************************

Akira seemed to give Naoto's question thought. "Painful, very painful. I almost passed out. We were locked in a prison cell in Kamoshida's palace. The gaurd's were beating one of the other's really bad. I wanted to help, somehow, even though they we holding me back. So I called and Arsene answered." 


	8. Friends and a box or two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today Akira sees some old friends and gets at least one box.

_Sunday April 17th_

Akira put her bag down as she climbed the last few stairs, holding the handles up for a few seconds to let Morgana out. It was only mid day but she had somehow managed to exhaust herself from shopping and preparing for the palace infiltration. 

Sighing she fell face first into her bed. Ready for a nice long nap before she started working on some infiltration tools. 

_*Ring*_

"Ugh." 'I can just let it ring and get some well deserved sleep.'

* _Ring*_

"Akira, you should probably answer that."

_*Ring*_

"It's fine whoever it is can just call back."

-

"See it must not be that important."

_*Ring*_

Sensing Morgana's glare, Akira pulled out her phone and hit answer

"What?"

"Sounds like someone's grumpy. Humans need sleep you know." The voice on the other line was someone Akira should know. Parsing through the list of people took longer than she'd like to admit.

"Marie?"

"The one and only. Me and my guest are on our way to Shibuya, I was thinking we could meet up and the two of us could take these boxes back to where ever your staying. Where do you want to meet?"

"Shit. Your coming today."

"Yep."

"Ugh, there's a cafe on central street. Let's meet there." 

"Sounds good. I think we can be there in half an hour."

After Marie hung up Akira just planted her face back into the mattress dreading getting back up. After a minute to gather her will to stand up and go back outside Akira rolled over and off of the bed. 

"Come on back in the bag." Directing her words to Morgana. Akira crossed the room and opened her shoulder bag. Securing the zipper once Morgana was comfortable. 

"Who was that?" Morgana asked as they left LeBlanc. 

"Marie is a... friend? She's been holding onto some stuff for me for a while. Now that I'm settled she's brought it to town."

"A friend? You don't sound so sure." 

'Leave it to the cat to point out everything. What am I supposed to call someone who tried to kill me?'

"It's complicated." 

Morgana made an affirmative noise and ducked back into the bag as Akira navigated the subway station. 

Twenty minutes later Akira stood outside the cafe waiting for Marie and whoever else she decided to drag along. After spending a bit looking for Marie's hat Akira was brought, once again, to the terrifying conclusion that people's wardrobe changes. Finally realizing that a hat she wore five years ago might not be enough to recognize her in the crowed Akira lifted her bag off her shoulder to get her phone. Sighing to herself and waking up Mona from a cat nap, she was rewarded with four missed text. 

"hey we're here'

'got a table come find us'

'the one near the bookstore'

'the cafe not the table'

Akira climbed yet another set of stairs. Quickly explaining to the host that she was there with a group, and thanking whatever god there was no one commented on the cat in her bag Akira began to search the cafe for anyone she knew. Heading toward the largest table in the cafe, Akira quickly began to count heads. Three guys, Four girls, and a kid? Looking up from her phone Marie finally noticed Akira. 

"Took you long enough! We just ordered." 

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting you to have gotten here first."

"Whatever, here sit." Marie started to scoot in. This started a domino effect as everyone else started to scoot to make more room at the circular table. Sitting down and placing the Mona bag on her lap Akira looked around. 

The girl with pigtails piped up from her place squished in the middle of the seat."Hey, Marie aren't you forgetting something?" 

"What?" 

"Introductions!" Various voices from around the table added in at various volumes. 

"Oh I guess, everyone this is Akira Kurusu, she from Inaba and asked me to bring some stuff to her here in Tokyo." Marie braced her head on her had and used her left to point along. "From left to right: Youske Hanamura he's studying at some college here in Tokyo, Chie Satonaka studying to be a police officer?" Hearing the question Chie nodded and Marie continued. "Yukiko Amagi her family owns the Amagi inn, Rise Kujikawa" lowering her voice she continued "she's the idol, Teddie he's a bear, Kanji Tastumi he works with his family's fabric shop, and this is Nanako Dojima she' in middle school." Seemingly done with the introductions Marie put her head down.

"Sorry about her she get's really sleepy when she leaves town." Rise spoke up once again. 

Chie picked up the menu from the center of the table. "What are you gonna get Akira-chan? I ordered the steak, but the hamburger also looks good." 

"It's meat Senpai, you'll eat it anyways." Kanji seemed to groan. 

Akira inwardly filched waiting for whatever reaction Chie for someone bringing up her eating habits. Chie looked up from the menu meeting Kanji's eyes she tossed the menu like a frisbee low the table. Knocking over the salt and pepper. 

"Chie!" Yukiko quickly bursted into laughter. Youske, Kanji, Rise, and Nanako tried to clean up the salt and pepper on the table. Chie's stunt with the menu seemed to have broken the ice enough that everyone split into their own conversations. They quickly integrated Akira into the group and managed to wake Marie up enough to join in. Question's about Akira's life in Inaba were avoided after Akira explained she was quite ill for a long time, and so she was home schooled for most of her life. Lunch came and went far too quickly. Unfortunately, the group had plans for the rest of the day so Akira and Marie split off from everyone. A quick reassurance that they would stop by LeBlanc to pick up Marie and the group was off. 

Marie and Akira started to head off to the Station, each with a box in their hands.   
"Suprised?"

"Yeah, I was. How did you manage to convince Dojima to let Nanako come?" From Akira's own experience Dojima was incredibly protective of his daughter, seeing her in Tokyo was surprising especially without Dojima there. 

"Pfh, that was easy, Rise has a concert. After she sent us some tickets we just had to ask. The fact he knows all of us helped a lot."

Readjusting the large box in her hands after they entered the train. "What's even in this box? I thought I only had one, why is it so heavy?"

"That's stuff from your room in Inaba. After your "disappearance" Dojima kept it the way it was for a while. Eventually he decided to get rid of a lot of it, and he offered it to everyone that came by and helped him and Nanako clean. I grabbed a bunch of it and so here we are." 

"Hmm. Thanks." Not really knowing what to say after that Akira just let the silence sit for the rest of the ride. 

Finally back at LeBlanc Akira and Marie set the boxes down on the attic floor. While Marie inspected the room Akira let Morgana back out of his bag and on to the ledge. Turning her attention back to the boxes she pulled out a pocket knife from her pocket and opened them one at a time. The first box, the larger one Akira carried, held a few old outfits, a jacket. Pulling out the clothes that laid on top Akira found a handful of books, a few paper cranes she'd never mailed off, a stuffed toy from the fireworks festival, a model kit, and a completed model. All items she could live without, but at the very bottom, slightly bent from the pressure of just a little bit too much weight, laying there were her glasses. The same pair Teddie gave her less then a week after she arrived in Inaba. Lifting them carefully, afraid of breaking them, Akira placed them on top of her old clothes. 

Not mentally prepaired for the second box yet, she began to put these things from her past life up around the room. Noticing Marie asleep on her bed she carefully draped the blanket over her and went back to her work. All too quickly she was done. Grabbing the second box, Akira once again dragged a knife across the tape and opened it. This box was significantly lighter then the first, it's contents carefully packed with newspaper. The first bundle was cash, over a million yen worth from her explorations in Tarturus. The second, her envoker. The third an embossed leather journal. The fourth a ring. The fifth a file. The six was a scarf. Other than the cash Akira really didn't think she'd be able to make it a year without these. Finally feeling complete and safe with her things Akira let herself have a moment. Gathering her things and again puting them away around the room, the file and journal went on her desk. Half the yen went in her bag the other half stored in her desk. The scarf and ring went on the self for now. The envoker posed a problem, carrying around a cat and a small pocket knife was one thing, something that looked so close to a real gun on the other hand was a completely separate issue. Putting it in the desk for now Akira checked the time.

It was close to dinner and the Inaba natives would be coming soon to fetch the sleepy god. Although a quick run to the second hand store should be fine. Deciding to leave the cat, the god, and her bag. Akira grabbed the ring and enough Yen to buy anything in the store. Ignoring Sojiro as she ran out of LeBlanc, Akira dashed the few steps to the store. 

"Hello dearie how can I help you today?" The old man tending the store turned towards her as she stepped inside.  
  


"Do you sell necklace chains?" 

"Of course come here." The old man led Akira to a display case, since money really didn't matter Akira picked the one that best matched the ring. Paid quickly and ran back to LeBlanc. 

Inside she was greeted with a full cafe. The group from the dinner had just arrived, quickly excusing herself Akira went upstairs to wake Marie.   
"What time is it?" The sleep heavy on her voice. 

"Everyone's here. It's time for you to go." Disappointment clear on her face Marie stretched and started to make her way down stairs. 

"Sorry I fell asleep. I know we were supposed to hangout." 

"It's no problem. Go have fun at you concert." 

After seeing the group off Akira went back up stairs. Sliding the ring on to the chain and closing the clasp around her neck as she walked toward the corner of her room, her head down. Finally managing to get the clasp to connect she looked up. Morgana who hadn't said a word since they had left for lunch was sitting at her desk. The journal she had left was now open, and a picture of a girl with dark hair and red eyes was under his paw. 

"Akira, who is H.S.?"


	9. Explaining Death to your Not Cat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WORD OF WARNING heavy sopilers for P3 just in case you didn't already known.
> 
> Is everyone good with the changes in time and such? Is it clear when things are happening? I've finished Royal so we're def getting some of that in this story, but not for a bit. Do you like cliff hangers? Do you hate them? Also, I'm super curious what do you think are the two cases Naoto never managed to solve? Let me know what you think!

April 17th 

Akira racked her brain for any explanation. In the end her hesitation just let the silence of the attic echo. The gentle clatter of Sojiro in the cafe the only noise to grace the attic. Morgana seemed to sense that he had asked a question with more weight then he'd given it. Looking up from the photo in the journal, Morgana saw Akira standing near the attic stairs with a faraway look in her eyes. 

"Hey Akira, are you okay?" 

A wave of nausea hit Akira at Moragan's words. Waking up from her stupor her eyes hardened. Akira began to move around the room with purpose gathering various things, her glasses, and the file first. Picking up the scarf and hearing something hit the floor, Akira picked up a small blue key. Pocketing it, she placed the various items on the bed. Turning around and garbing her bag she began to rifle through it finding her phone and shutting it off. Morgana watched as Akira moved around the room, gathering things, closing her curtains, until finally she stopped in front of the desk. Feeling her pick him up with one hand Morgana climbed up her shoulder until he felt comfortable. Finally, after what felt like an hour after the question, Akira set down placing the journal on the bed with the pile of things she set Morgana in her lap. 

"I can't talk loudly, downstairs is bugged. Sojiro-san might hear me anyways." Talking as quietly as possible she sorted through her thoughts. Figuring out where to start was the hard part.

"Morgana, I'm H.S. My name isn't Akira. It's Hamuko Shirogane, I'm Hamuko Shirogane." After not being able to say her own name for years, it felt like a weight was lifted. The words and the rest of her story just couldn't be stopped. It was like a wave crashing to shore, or coming home to a dog that tackled you when you entered. Better to ride it out and let what happens happen then to try and stop it. Morgana sat quietly and listened. 

"Eighteen years ago, my parents died. The police ruled it an accident, my sister and I were sent to live with my grandfather. I come from- My parents were well known detectives. My Dad had trained the city police on driving in hazardous conditions. The car was brand new and there weren't any other cars on the bridge. I was the only survivor of the wreck. My grandfather, he's a detective too, investigated their death's for a long time."

Turning Akira grabbed the file. Shifting further back on the bed so she could open it and allow Morgana to see she continued.

"He put together this file, I've added on to it. A lot of it is just normal evidence. The victims."Akira flipped through the file, landing on a page with two photo's paper clipped on. Pointing to a women with dark red hair, and eyes to match. Then to a man with blue hair and eyes. "My mother Akane Shirogane, and my father Ren Shirogane. Eventually, I found this folder. I had wanted to follow my parent's footsteps. Everytime I thought about that night... Something something didn't feel right. So I decided to find the truth myself. I put together a false identity, Minako Aristato, altered my transcripts, and transferred to a school in the city where it happened. I had a few leads, but nothing solid. I think my grandfather thought that I'd run out of steam and come home."

"I found out a few days after I transferred that something was wrong in the city, something had been wrong for ten years. Dating back to the exact day my parents died, I knew I was on the right track. There was an extra hour after midnight, people were in coffins, and shadows roamed the city. People were getting sick, we called it apathy syndrome. Apparently it was the work of shadows. The craziest thing, was at night during this extra hour a labyrinthine tower appeared. So we climbed it. We fought shadows most nights in Taurtarus, the tower. Mostly the shadows stayed there, but once in a while a really strong one would appear outside and start causing chaos. Since we were the only ones awake we'd fight it and try to keep everyone safe. We fought twelve of them."

Leaning over Mona Akira grabbed her Envoker. 

"This is from then. It's not a real gun. You know in the metaverse we take our mask off to summon our personas? In the real world it's harder. This was designed by the Korijo group to blast us with trauma to so we could summon them. " 

Placing the gun on top of the folder she continued.

"Eventually we found out the truth. Fighting those Shadows had doomed us. We'd managed to unleash a god. Nyx. After fighting all those shadows I found my answer. My parent's we're killed by the thirteenth shadow, after a research accident had let it loose. The sealed him inside of me. By killing those shadows we broke the seal. We we're told that we couldn't do anything. My- my friend, was the thirteenth Shadow. he told us that if we killed him we'd forget everything and be able to die in peace. My friends, the people who fought with me let me decide what to do."

"Hamuko. You're crying." Morgana's paw reached out to Akira's wrist. It's soft touch seemed to encourage the tears. She hadn't even realized she was crying. Reaching up to wipe them off she opened her mouth to continue.

"You can stop. You don't have to tell me everything."

"No. No, I haven't told anyone this. I need to. The day before the end we climbed Tarturus and confronted Nyx. It was terrible. We thought we'd won, but eventually she just left. I was the only one who could follow. I knew we couldn't win. She's humanity's desire for death made manifest. So I sealed her away, it took everything I had. I died because of it."

Lifing her hand from under Morgana's paw she grabbed the glasses Teddie made her.

"Except that wasn't the end. There exist a place between dream and reality, the master of that place holds enormous power. We made a deal. I would become a safety measure if such a threat comes to humanity again, in exchange I might one day be unchained from the seal. This is the third time I've awaken from the great seal. The first was to stop a god from enshrouding the world in fog. The second was to stop some one from bringing back the dark hour. This time... This time somethings wrong. I don't know how long I have before I disappear, but there's a threat out there, and I have to stop it."

"Hmm. It all sounds so familiar. Wait. Does that mean you've known all that stuff about personas a fighting all along?"

"Yep. But no one else can know. I'm not even supposed to tell anyone."

"I believe you." 

That sent a shock down Akira's spine. She hadn't even considered he might not. After her year in Tasumi port city she'd grown so used to not trusting anyone. Why did she trust this cat? Not cat she quickly corrected herself. 

"I'll help you if you'll keep you're promise."

Feeling like the weight of the world wasn't resting on her shoulders for the first time in ages Hamuko Shirogane smiled. Taking Mona's paw in her hand she shook it.

"Of course. A deal's a deal after all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it. Our dear protag's true identity. Might make this case a little more difficult. I'm sure it'll all work out. I was really debating skipping forward, or having another interrogation chapter, but I think letting protag talk and say her piece feels less cheap then throwing out hints forever. Plus I really want to do more comparative chapters and that would be really hard if I didn't let protag explain herself. Side question who thought she was really Aristato?


	10. Fighting With Your Sibling is Always Hard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I've updated the summary to better reflect what I'm actually writing vs what I had planned to write back this time last year. Also this will be the last update for a bit finals are happening and I need to finish up under grad. Much love to those who are keeping up with this train wreck and I hope you enjoy.

_In the interrogation room_

During Akira's brief description of her awakening, Naoto took notes. Once she had stopped speaking Naoto put the pen down.   
"You said earlier that you only stole Kamoshida's heart because it aligned with your goals. Awakening to a persona is..." Naoto's stoic face contorted into a frown "traumatic. Why put yourself through that if you had nothing to gain?"

  
"I'm not purely self serving. I wasn't going to let a kid get killed by shadows, not if I could help it." Akira moved back in her chair. Crossing her arms and taking on a more defensive body language. "It's not that I didn't want Kamoshida to get his. I would have done something to fix the situation. It's just the method I would have taken would take time and proof. Things Kamoshida made sure were in short supply."  
  
"A kid you say? How old are you?"

Akria ran through the math quickly. Technically she was 25 going by her actual body's age. The body she was currently occupying was less then a year old, but styled to look like a 16 year old. Not including the years she spent guarding the great seal she was 18 or 19. 

"Uh... I don't know." 

"You don't know your own age?"

"Well... it's complicated?"

"How is your own age complicated?"

"Hm...I'm somewhere between 25 and 1?"

The sheepish look Akira wore must have been enough to convince Naoto to move on.

"Tell me about your heist. How did you steal Kamoshida's heart?"

"Easy. After I got my persona we found that weird talking cat in jail. We all hightailed it out of there. The next day we went back. Skull-we all have code names- had got it in his head that the volleyball players we saw in the castle were real. After he got a good look we hightailed it out of there cat included. After a bunch of nonsense Skull got a persona, you'll love this. Captain Kidd, the pirate. Anyways, we started to look into how the real volleyball players were treated. Turns out not great. After that failure of information gathering we called it a day. I meet up with one of the girls Kamoshida had been harassing, after letting her cry it out I talked to her about him. Turns out physical abuse wasn't the only thing he was doing. He tried to harass her into a sexual relationship. The next day Suzi jumped off the rooftop. Skull, Mona and I reentered the castle to steal Kamoshida's heart. Turns out the girl I met with the previous day entered the palace as well. After we found her she awoke to a persona and joined us. After that it was as easy as finding the treasure and beating up Kamoshida's shadow. We got to the treasure the next day, and sent the calling card the day after."

"You fought Kamoshida's shadow with him outside of the cognitive world?"

"Yep. No shadows in sight when my teammates awoke to theirs."

"You know an awful lot about this for some random teenager."

"I may or may not be a teenager, but I'm definitely not some "random" teenager." Surprisingly Naoto didn't take the bait. Maybe it wasn't surprising after all right now she wasn't teasing her sister. She was being questioned by one of the best detectives in Japan. Shaking her head Akira continued. "After all isn't it your job to figure it out?"  
  
"Hm. It is, and I will. For now let us continue. These friends of yours, the cat, Skull, and who else?"

"Panther."

"Panther, she's Anne Takamik correct? The part time model, who was reportedly dating Kamosida? Skull is Rujiy Sakamato. The former track team star who attacked Kamoshida and as a result managed to get the track team disbanded?"

"Yes. That's them, guess I shouldn't even bother using code names should I?"

"You can if you'd like, although it won't help you or them. As far as this cat, it is your cat correct? The one you reportedly take everywhere?"

"Aww. You've done your homework! I'm so proud!" That probably came off condescending, or sarcastic. Akria inwardly flinched. Looking up, yep she was mad. To her credit Naoto didn't let it show.

"Moving on. The change of heart didn't happen immediately, I imagine that delay must have frazzled your group."

"It did, but it's not like we had anything to go off of. I figured the change of heart might take a bit." 

"What did you base that belief off of?"

"Simple. Experience."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: This is a great idea!  
> Me at 5 am: Congrats you're rewriting one of your fave games but Rumpelstiltskin.  
> Me: -_-
> 
> Also we're done with the Kamoshida arc only took me about 10,000 words.


End file.
